Odds to win the 2010 MLB National League Central Division
Chicago Cubs +175
Cincinnati Reds +825
Houston Astros +1200
Milwaukee Brewers +790
Pittsburgh Pirates +2500
Saint Louis Cardinals -150
The St. Louis Cardinals will be going for their 2nd straight Nation League Central Division title this upcoming season, and realistically they should not find too much trouble along the way. The other teams in their division (Cubs, Brewers, Astros, Pirates, and Reds) are at least one step back from where the Cardinals are. This St. Louis Cardinals team may be one of the most complete teams in all of Major League Baseball, led by two dynamite starting pitchers who finished 2nd and 3rd in the National League Cy Young voting in 2009. Chris Carpenter (17-4, 2.24 ERA in 2009 {Best ERA in the National League in '09}) and Adam Wainwright (19-8, 2.63 ERA in 2009) will be looking to at least match what they were able to do last season, the scary thought is they may be able to surpass what they did last season. The best move that the Cardinals made in the off-season was retaining Matt Holliday. The Cardinals offense sputtered out of the gate last season until Matt Holliday joined the club, and now they get to have the services of Holliday for the entire season! Not only are the Cardinals a very complete team, but they are very well balanced. They have great offensive players backed by terrific pitching and superb defense and as they showed last season they are very dangerous at home and on the road (Home Wins: 46 Away Wins: 45 in 2009).In 2010 the 3 time National League MVP ALbert Pujols will be gunning for a milestone, as he goes for 400 career home runs. He currently has 366 HRs and has been able to hit at least 34 HRs every season with the exception of 2007. When he passes this milestone this season he will be only the 5th player all-time to eclipse the 400 HR mark before he turns 31. He will be joining a prestigious group that boasts the names of Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., Mickey Mantle, and Jimmie Foxx. Retaining Matt Holliday will serve crucial in the quest as he provides great protection for Albert Pujols.
Make no bones about it, this Cardinals team not only has strong starting pitching but a great bullpen as well that will act as a safety net in close late games. This Cardinals pitching staff managed the 4th best ERA in the majors in '09 with a 3.66 and ranked 12th in the majors in '09 in saves with 43. The only question mark in the pitching staff may actually be their All-Star closer Ryan Franklin who has to redeem himself from a not so stellar end to the '09 season. However, I believe that Franklin will rebound nicely. Franklin and the entire pitching staff including the addition of Brad Penny in the off-season will make the Cardinals a huge threat to not only win the National League Central Division title, but possibly the National League Pennant as well.
Free Blog Pick: St. Louis Cardinals -150 (To win the National League Central Division).
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Kansas City Royal fans should be excited for the 2010 season, but not blinded to the fact that they are not yet on the same level with the Tigers, Twins, and White Sox. However, they are going to be in a tight race for 4th place in the division with the Cleveland Indians and may even edge them out. Zack Greinke will once again be the ace of the pitching staff as he will look to be even better than his 16-8 record last season. Despite all of Greinke's accolades and his 2.16 ERA from last season, the Kansas City Royals pitching staff managed to finish 26th in the majors in ERA with a 4.83. The 2010 Kansas City Royals pitching staff will need to be very sharp this season, especially in the first 12 games of the season which could be a disaster for the team. In their first 12 games of the 2010 MLB regular season the Kansas City Royals will play 6 straight home games (3 vs Detroit Tigers & 3 vs Boston Red Sox) and then a very difficult 6 straight divisional road games (3 @ Detroit Tigers & 3 @ Minnesota Twins) before continuing their road trip at the Toronto Blue Jays. If the Royals want to do well in the upcoming season, they will have to do exceptionally well in the month of April and hope that they can get things rolling from there.
The Cleveland Indians have shown (during Spring Training) that they have some pop in their bats and could be a threat based on their offensive production, however I believe that it is their pitching that will let them down this season and keep them from reaching any of the top 3 spots in the division. The Indians have no one to blame but themselves, they made no big off-season moves to try and help a pitching staff that was 29th in the majors last year in ERA (5.06) and tied for 29th in the majors in Saves (25). In a division where all the teams can hit, you need to be able to pitch to win games, I mean how many games can the Indians really win, when they need to score about 5 runs per game every single day to have a chance? Perhaps it will be the Indians new manager, Manny Acta that can get this young team ready to compete with the top 3 teams in this division.
I am very high on the Detroit Tigers this season. While the Tigers had a number of key losses in the off-season including Curtis Granderson, Aubrey Huff, Placido Polanco, and Fernando Rodney (just to name a few) I feel that they added some great players as well. I love the acquisitions of Johnny Damon and Phil Coke, along with Max Scherzer. I also expect that despite a poor showing last season with only 9 HRs and 50 RBIs, Magglio Ordonez will be back in his previous form this season. I expect him to have much better and bigger numbers than last season and when you put his bat in the line-up with Austin Jackson and of course Miguel Cabrera this offense could be deadly to opposing pitchers. I can also see great things from the Tigers pitching staff this season as well. Justin Verlander will have another great year, putting up numbers similar to his past season when he went 19-9 with a 3.45 ERA. With the offensive support he will have, Justin Verlander should win 20 games this year.
While I am not as high on the Chicago White Sox as I am the Tigers, I do think that the White Sox will be improved this season and will probably finish 2nd in the division (in a very tight 3 team race for 1st). While finishing 3rd in the division last year, the Chicago White Sox are ready to make another legitimate run at the AL Central crown. Mark Buehrle will once again be the ace and anchor of this pitching staff that had an ERA of 4.14 last season, good enough for the 7th best ERA in the majors. The veteran Paul Konerko will once again be the clean-up hitter in a very dangerous offensive line-up where new acquisition and lead-off man Juan Pierre should be able to get on base often creating lots of RBI chances for Gordon Beckham, Carlos Quentin, and Paul Konerko. For all of you fantasy players who may not have a very strong outfield, keep your eyes on Carlos Quentin (if he is not already drafted by someone else in your league). I also expect Mark Buehrle to pitch much better this season compared to his 13-10 ; 3.84 ERA last season.
The only major move that the Minnesota Twins made in the off-season was their move to a new stadium. A stadium where at last report has already sold more tickets for the 2010 season, than it sold for all of the 2009 season. The Minnesota Twins I feel are just a slight step ahead of the White Sox and the Tigers and should win the American League Central Division yet again. Their offensive line-up is amazing top to bottom, with Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau probably being the 2nd best 3-4 hitting combo in the majors (2nd to Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez). Those two offensive powerhouses along with their fellow team-mates managed to have the 5th best batting average in the majors last season at .274 and were also tied for 5th in the majors in Runs (817) and RBIs (770). The only problem they may have is the HUGE loss of their closer Joe Nathan who is out for the season. Last year the Twins were 4th in the majors in saves (48) and Joe Nathan will be greatly missed. The Twins however have named Jon Rauch to the all important closer roll for the start of the 2010 season. Jon Rauch should be pretty good in that role, assuming he can handle the pressure of being a closer. Last season Rauch was 5-1 with the Twins with a 1.72 ERA in 15.2 innings. With all of the excitement of the upcoming regular season focused on the Twins and their new ball park they will be playing their first 7 games of the 2010 season on the road (4 @ Angels, 3 @ White Sox) before opening their stadium to its first regular season game on April 12th against the Boston Red Sox.